Apparatus for making mosaic screens for color photography



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 27,* 1930. 1 DUFAY APPARATUS FOR MAKING MOSAIC SCREENS FOR COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY Filed March 8, 1929 m m m m mm m w +V wfg] mx, n||| e|HH. n||l a u O s s e 6J l M |L 9| l I -l -ww jm-u HlwL-v lhol d Mum .EL w

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May 27, 1930. L DUFAY APPARATUS Fo MAKING MOSAIC SCREENS FOR COLORPHOTQGRAPHY Filed March 8, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheer. 2

L. DUFAY May 27, 1930.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING MOSAIC SCREENS FOR COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY Filed March 8, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 35 Figure 1 Patented May 27, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE i LOUIS DUFAY, OF VERSAILLES, FRANCE, ASSIGNOB TO HAROLD WADE, OF LONDON,

ENGLAND f APPARATUS IOR MAKING MOSAIC SCREENS FOB COLOR4 PHOTOGRAPHY Application illed lax-cli 8, 1929, Serial No. 345,400,4 and in Great Britain August 4, 1928.

. This -invention provides a machine for treating long strips ofdyedsheet material (for examplecellulose acetate film) having a resist pattern imprinted thereon,`for the production of mosaic color-screens for direct color photography and cinematography.

The jinvention is particularly adapted for the carrying out of the method of making three-color screens described in the specifica- ]j tion of L. Dufay application Serial No. 345,-

604, filed March 8, 1929, but it is equally well adapted forthe 'production of linear twocolor screens.

The machine according to the present invention comprises in combination a trough for a decolorizing agent, a device for applying a dye, a washing device, a drying-device, a trough (or more than one) for a solvent of Vthe resisttmateriah'a wi ing device within said trough, a second rying device, `and means for guiding and moving the strips to be treated continuously throu h the troughs anddevices in the order named.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example one practicalembodiment of the invention Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section of part of the machine;

Figure 2 is a side elevation partly in section of the remainder and is a continuation of Figure 1 towards the left;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is `a section on the line 4-4 of re 5 is asection on the line 5--5 of Figug 1;

Figure 6 Figure 1. A

Like reference characters\ indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

The machine as a whole comprises Va. main frame 12 having a succession of rollers 13 to i lead the vfilm 14 along the top of the machine to the inlet end. l t

is a section on the line 6-6 ,of

The decolorizing trough 15, which is in the form of a shallow dish, is mounted at one end of the 'machine upon two pairs of brackets 16 carried by two eccentric shafts 17 geared to- Uether, one of which carries a hand-wheel 18.

Iy turning the hand-Wheel 18 the trough 15 may be raised or lowered at' will. Just above the trough two guide-rollers 19, 2O are mounted. These rollers are so arranged that the strip 14 passing under them is exactly horizontal, and when the apparatus is in use the trough 15 is adjusted so that the liquid de- Colorizing agent therein just touches the underside of the strip. e l After leaving the decolorizing trou h', the strip passes under a roller 21 u on winch it receives dye from a ebonite ye-applying roller 22 which dips into afdye-trough 23, (mounted in a similar manner to the decolorizing trough) and which rotates in close proximity to but not in contact with the strip.

Preferably the peripheral speed of this roller 22 is greater than the speed of the strip or it may alternatively revolve in a direction opposite tol that in which the strip is moving) whereby any traces of the decolorizing agent which may ,still cling Ito the sur face of the strip may be swept away.

The strip then passes around a positively driven drum 24 about 20 cm.,in diameter, upon which it is washed by means of jets of water directed from 4pipes 26 upon its exposed side, further jets of water being directed upon the other side just before it comes into contact with the drum for the purpose of removing any dye which may have encroached upon that side. Beneath the drum 24 is a trough 25provided with a waste-pipe ,27 for collecting and removing the washingleys 36 te a winch 37 by which it canbe Iraised or lowered.

The strip passes over six upperrollers 38 and Vfive lower rollers 39, the axes of which are fixed, these lower rollers being so situated that each is inside and near' the bottom of one of the troughs 31, 32, 33 when the frame 34 carrying them is in its u per position, the upper 'rollers .38 being a ove the troughs and serving to conduct the strip from one trough to the other. The upper rollers 38, which are positively driven, are

. of larger diameter than the lower ones 39 and each (with the exception of the first) is provided with a squeegee roller 40 in contact with the strip passing around it.

The resist material is usuallyof a greasy nature and the solvent `in vthe first three troughs 31 is accordingly benzene, petrol or like solvent of grease. The first and second 4squeegee rollers 40 'must therefore be of a material not attackedby this solvent: and it is preferred to cover them with soft gelatine. The remaining two squeegee rollers, whichare in Contact only with aqueous alkaline solution and plain water respectively, are

coatedy with rubber. y

After leaving the rinsing trough, the strip passes between a second set of drying or blotting rollers '41 similar to those just described,

and lthen over two positivel driven internally heated drums 42, one o which contacts with one side of the strip, and the other with the other side.

Finally the strip is wound upon a storage spool 43 which is driven through a slipping clutch or its equivalent the adhesion of 'which is controlled kby a springor weight-loaded jockey-pulley bearing against the strip, the

connection between the jockey-pulley and the n vslipping clutch being such that when tlie tension in the strip increases beyond a certain amount the clutch is caused to` slip.

The imprinted pattern of greasy resist inaterial must not be touched by .any solid body until after the dye has been applied to the decolorized interspaces. Accordingly, every roller which has to engage the side bearing the resist material, up to the first washing stage, is of thekind comprising two conical roller-elements spaced apart on a spindle, which engage the edge only of the strip.-

In each solvent tank isa positively-driven flannel-covered wiping roller 44 bearin lightlyl against the side of the stri on whic is the greasy resist material, and t ese rollers rotate in the same direction as the strip but with a rather greater peripheral speed,l (alternatively these wiping rollers may rotate in the direction opposite to the movementpf the strip). Two such rollers are providedain the degreasing trough, one on either side of the strip, but there are no wiping rollers in the final rinsing trough. n v

All the rollers over which the strip passes, particularly those which are not positivelfy driven, are preferably mounted in sel aligning ball-bearings.

It will be readily understood that the strip,

after treatment in the apparatus described,

will be dyed in two colors, namel the original color in those areas protecte by the resist material, and the applied color in the unprotected areas. If the colors are suitably chosen, the strip Amay beused after this treatment as a screen for two-color photography or cinematography. If, however, it is 'desired to produce a three-color screen according to the specification of L. Dufay application No. 345,604, filed March 8, 1929,. a second pattern in resist material must be impressed upon the film, followed by a second decolorizing, dyeing and washing. treatment similar to that described above.

A second apparatus, similar to that de.

found that (when the methoddescrbed inthe aforesaid specification is used) a longer time of treatment in the decolorizing bath is necessary. According to a further feature of the invention, therefore, means are provided for enabling the length of that part of the strip which is under treatment in the decolorizing trough to be readil varied. For this purpose, one of the two ro lers 19, 20 around which the strip passes in its transit along the surface of the decolorizing bath is made adjustable towards and away r Instead of a single adjustable roller 20, two alternative rollers may be provided, either of which may be employed according as a longer or shorter time of treatment is desired.

1. A machine for treating long strips of dyed sheet material having a resist pattern imprinted thereon for the production of mosaic screens for color photography and cinematography comprising in combination a trough for a decolorizing agent, a device forapplying a dye, a washing device, a drying device, a trough for a solventbf the resist om the other.y

material, a wipin .device within said-trough, i

a second drying evice and means for guiding and moving the strip to be treated continuously through the troughs and devices in the order named.

iso

2. A machine for treating long strips of dyed sheet material havinga resist pattern imprinted thereon for the production of mosaic screens for color photography and cinematography comprising in combination a trough for a decoloriziiig agent, a device for applying a dye, and means for guiding and moving the strip to be treated'with one side only in contact with the decolorizing agent and subsequently with the dye-applyin device, namely that yside which is dyed and ears the imprinted 'resist pattern.

3. A machine for treating long strips of dyed sheet material having a resist pattern imprinted thereon for the production of mosaic screens for color photography and cinematography comprising in combination a trough for a decoloriZing agent mounted to be movable at will in a vertical direction whereby the surface of the decolorizing agent can be brought into contact with the lower side of the strip, a device for applying a dye, a washing device, a drying device, a trough for a solvent of the resist material, 'a wiping device within said trough, a second drying device and means for guiding and moving the strip to be treated continuously through the troughs and devices in the order named'.

4. A machine for treating long strips of dyed sheet material having a'resist pattern imprinted thereon for the production of mosaic screens for color photography and cinematography comprising in combination a trough for a decolorizing agent, a device for applying a dye comprising a roller dipping into a dye-trough and revolved in close proxiniity to the surface of the strip, a washing device, a drying device, a trough for a solvent of the resist material, a wiping device Within said trough, a second dryi-ng device and means for guiding and moving the strip to be treated continuously through the troughs and devices in the order named.

5. A machine for treating long strips of dyed sheet material having a resistpattern imprinted thereon for the production of mof saic screens for color photography and cinematography comprising `in combinatidn a trough for a decoloriziiig agent,a device for applyinga dye comprising a roller dipping into a dye-trough and revolved in close proxs imity to the surface of the strip, a washing device, a drying device, a trough for a solvent of the resist material, a wiping device with:

in said trough. a second drying device and means for guiding and moving the strip to be treated continuously through'the troughs and devices inthe order named at a linear speed different from the peripheral speed of the dye-applying roller. .Y

6. A machine for treating long strips of dyed sheet material having a resist pattern imprinted thereon for the production of mosaic screens for'color photography and cinematography comprising in combination a trough for a decolorizing agent, a device for applying a dye, a washing device comprising a roller of relatively large diameter for supporting the moving strip and a plurality of water-jets' directed upon the strip, a drying device, a trough for a solvent of the resist material, a wiping device within said trough, a

second drying device and means for guiding f and moving the strip to be treated continuou'sly through the troughs and devices in the order named.

7. A machine for treating long strips of dyed sheet material having a resist pattern imprinted thereon for the production of mo,- saic screens for color photography and cine- `niatography comprising in combination a the strip to betreated continuously through the. troughs and devices in the order named.

8. A machine for treating long strips of dyed sheet material having a resist pattern imprinted thereon for the production of mosaic screens for color photography and cinematography comprising in combination a trough for a ldecolorizing agent, a device for applying a dye, a Washing device, a drying device comprising a series of rollers of soft fibrous absorbent material in contact alternately with opposite sides of the strip and rotated at peripheral'speeds different from the linear speed of the strip, a trou h for a solvent of the resist material, a wiping device within said trough, a second drying device and means for guiding and moving the strip to b'e treated eeontinuously through the troughs and devices in the order named.

S). A machine for treating `long -strips of. dyed sheet `material having a resist pattern imprinted thereon for the production of mosaic screens for color photography and cinematography comprising in combination a trough for a decolorizing agent, a device for applying a dye, afwashin device, a drying device, a trough for a solvent of the resist material, a Wi ping device Withinsaid'trough, a trough for an alkaline de-greasing bath, a trough for rinsing water, a second drying device and means for guiding and moving the strip to be treated continuously through the troughs and devices in the order named.

10. A machine for ytreating long strips of dyed sheet material having a resist pattern imprinted thereon for the production et mosaicscreens forgcplor photography and cinematography comprising in combination a. trough for a decolorizing agent, a device for applying a dye, and means for guiding and 

